Common Camp, Morpeth
Welcome
The Common Camp
The Beginnings
The Common Camp in Morpeth, Northumberland, was a Polish Resettlement Camp for displaced people, after World War 2. It also included Ukrainians, Russians, Italians and English. A Company of Royal Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders who lived there previously, using their initials, named it Crash Camp. For those of us who lived there it felt more like a village. The community was eager to rebuild their lost homeland with hope for a better future. It had to be better than the past. The community provided much needed support to share each person’s tales of harrowing experiences. Some had been captured by the Soviet army and sent to Siberia; others witnessed their family murdered by the Germans before being taken to Germany as forced labour; many had members of their families who had been taken to prisoner of war camps such as Auschwitz where they suffered the same fate as the Jews. Many men had escaped from the clutches of their German or Russian captors and fought alongside their British comrades; the Polish Army fought as part of the British Army. The Polish contingent was the fourth largest force to fight the Germans. The Polish Navy also played an active part in the war, as did the highly effective Air force, playing a significant role in the Battle of Britain victory. These contributions to the allied success were in ironic contrast to the absence of Polish personnel during the victory parades: post-war negotiations between the Allies resulted in the Poles attending only as spectators, a fact that was less surprising when post-war Poland became part of Communist Russia. Ironic that the outbreak of World War II was to prevent Poland from being taken over by a foreign power!
Many Polish people felt they could not go back to Poland because of the risks of harsh treatment from the Soviets; soldiers who had remained in Poland found this out to their cost. The Polish people felt that the allies had abandoned Poland to the Soviet oppression of their mainly Catholic country. History showed them to be right until the uprisings led by Lech Walesa freed Poland once again in 1989.
Moving On
Most families were offered places in England or the USA. Many Polish Resettlement camps sprung up all over England. They were based in appalling conditions in old army or prisoner of war camps. One British WW 2 veteran posted to the Common Camp observed in his diary, "What a dump!" Sadly, that is the only recorded description or reference to the Camp I can find. As a child brought up in the camp, this was not my recollection. Our parents changed that and made the camp into a warm, vibrant village that we were proud to live in.
Traces of the camp can still be seen in Morpeth today. The Google map shows traces of the perimeter of the camp. It is worth noting that, on the Northern edge of the Camp there remains an unusual brick building which in the early 1950s was converted to a block of five flats. This building was originally built as a horse racing grandstand as seen on maps dating from 1900; it was then converted into a TB isolation hospital. Ironically it yet again overlooks a new race track and football field. The flats although classed as being outside of the camp are still in use and the only reminder of what was once there.
Please claim back your hut with its correct number. A family photo and any information would be welcome. You can e-mail or send any photos and I will copy and return them. I know there must be lots of photos which future generations will not be able to relate to. The website will be constantly updated so please let me know if your hut needs repositioning or any corrections that can be made. I also would appreciate other peoples' drawings of the camp which I could use.
The Camp was later taken over by Morpeth Town Council who rehoused most of the people into the nearby housing estate as properties, some brand new, became available.